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New Thought charts path to future

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presides over the second meeting of the presidium of the 19th CPC National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. JU PENG / XINHUA

A new political theory unveiled at a key congress of China's ruling Communist Party of China has struck a chord with Ling Jihe, a 56-year-old rural entrepreneur in Jiangxi province.

"'Ensuring harmony between human and nature', a basic principle underpinned by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, resonates with my choice of career over the past eight years," he said.

After being a businessman elsewhere for more than 20 years, Ling went back to his home village of Xilu to farm in 2009, eyeing the great potential of green agriculture.

Now he manages more than 3,000 hectares of farmland, helping to raise the income of more than 3,300 of his fellow villagers.

"The new thought has firmed my confidence in my road forward," said Ling, who is also a delegate to the 19th CPC National Congress, which opened on Wednesday.

Congress delegates and experts widely believe that Xi Jinping Thought is the biggest highlight of the Party congress, a twice-a-decade gathering and the most important event on China's political calendar.

The elevation of the Thought into a guide to action for the CPC and the country signals a new chapter of Marxism in the 21st century.

"The Thought embodies the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context," said Liu Jingbei, a professor with the China Executive Leadership Academy in Shanghai's Pudong district.

The Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era builds on and further enriches Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development, said a report delivered at the opening of the congress on Wednesday.

The report listed the 14-point fundamental principles of the Thought, ranging from ensuring Party leadership over all work to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

A hundred years ago, the salvo of the October Revolution in Russia brought the theory of Marxism-Leninism to China.

From the day it was born in 1921, the CPC has enshrined Marxism-Leninism as its guide to action and continued to innovate it by integrating the theory with China's changing conditions.

Xi, general secretary of the 18th CPC Central Committee, announced on Wednesday that China "has achieved a tremendous transformation. It has stood up, grown rich and become strong." He made the remarks while unveiling a two-stage plan to make China a "great modern socialist country" by the mid-21st century.

Chen Shuguang, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said, "As China enters a new era, the CPC must write a new chapter of 21st-century Marxism with a broader vision to achieve the goals set at the milestone congress."

Liu attributed the CPC's success in maintaining vitality and creativity to the ability to advance with the times, saying it is the "magic code" for the CPC to lead China toward becoming a great modern country.

The Thought takes "ensuring and improving living standards through development" as a basic principle, requiring steady progress in ensuring the people's access to child care, education, employment, medical services, eldercare, housing and social assistance.

"This vision suits China's conditions well and wins applause from the general public," he said.

"The general secretary's pledge to give priority to education is a real bonus for me," said Liu, the headmaster of a senior high school in Dancheng, an impoverished county in Henan province.

Liu said around 30 students in his school strive to enter China's prestigious Peking University and Tsinghua University each year, with 80 percent of them from rural areas.

"As a grassroots Party member and a rural educator, I'm fully supportive of Xi," said Liu, who believes education is the best way to lift the poor out of poverty for good.